Many people who follow high school basketball recruiting felt that this would be the summer that Marcus Paige really blew up on the national stage. After shining at the Hoops Jamboree and NBA Players Camp in June, the Linn Mar point guard is well on his way to blowing up. Rivals.com recently ranked Paige as the 29th best prospect in the Class of 2012 and that has provided him with some level of satisfaction, but also a dose of motivation.

"It's pretty exciting," Paige said. "It is nice to know that a lot of your hard work is paying off. But, you can't worry about that stuff too much because it is always changing and you have to keep working hard. I just want to keep it up and keep working even harder."

Like any competitor, the 6-foot point guard is always looking to measure himself against his peers and he admits to taking a look at the list and seeking the names of the other point guards ahead of him on the list.

"It motivates me a lot because I like to look at that list and see who the other point guards are and try to push myself to the top point guard in the class," Paige said. "But, I also know that with the ranking, I am going to get everyone's best shot and that forces me to elevate my game."